Diabetic Retinopathy--a Challenge.

I AM very conscious of the fact that, being an ophthalmologist, I have only a superficial knowledge of diabetes mellitus and also that, not being associated with a diabetic clinic, I have had only limited opportunities of studying its retinal complications. Any observations I make will, therefore, be open to the criticism that they would not form the basis of a statistical analysis. For these shortcomings I ask your indulgence. The assessment of individual cases can, however, be rewarding. This was emphasized by Poulsen's observation that severe retinopathy regressed in a diabetic who developed hypopituitarism post partum. It was this isolated case that led to the various forms of pituitary ablation as a form of treatment for retinopathy. With this in mind my efforts have been directed towards the careful study of a few cases selected from a series of 250, together with a superficial survey of the remainder, covering a 2-year period.